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Amplifying The Student-Athlete Experience With Arkansas’ Derita Dawkins & The Big 12’s Dayna Scherf

Guest Derita Dawkins, Arkansas; Dayna Scherf, Big 12
22:52 min watch

Summary

Arkansas Deputy AD/Assistant Vice Chancellor Derita Dawkins and Big 12 Vice President for Competition Dayna Scherf join ADU’s Steph Garcia Cichosz at the 2022 Women Leaders Convention to share their secrets for providing a world-class student-athlete experience on campus and at championships. Dawkins and Scherf share their strategies for connecting with student-athletes and how they evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and events before discussing the challenges of the transfer portal and the importance of educating student-athletes as they play a more prominent role in shaping the future of the industry.

The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).

  • - What's the secret to providing a world-class student-athlete experience?
  • - Do you have any tips or tricks for keeping in touch with student-athletes during your daily work routine?
  • - Derita, how have your priorities evolved as you've gained more responsibility throughout your career? When you were sitting in the big chair, how did you actively stay engaged with student-athletes?
  • - Dayna, what metrics do you use at the conference level to evaluate student-athlete satisfaction with post-season events and competition?
  • - How has the Big 12 responded to the broader critiques about gender equity in championship events that came out during the 2021 NCAA Tournament?
  • - How have student-athletes responded to the Big 12's changes?
  • - Whose responsibility is it to ensure equity across sports and championship experiences? The NCAA, the conferences or the individual institutions?
  • - How much autonomy does a campus have when hosting championship events?
  • - How can we rethink the organizational culture of college athletics to better incorporate the athlete voice?
  • - What advice do you have for student-athletes who are curious about working in athletic administration?
  • - What advice do you have for new senior administrators who are looking to bridge the gap between their new duties and their connection with their student-athletes?